Avoyelles Soldiers 1779 - American Revolution

On 10/29/2011, a plaque was placed in St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church Cemetery in Mansura (Louisiana) honoring these Revolutionary War Patriots. Some of these soldiers are buried in St. Paul's Cemetery in unmarked graves.

The plaque names thirty-seven men with ties to Avoyelles Parish who were soldiers in the American Revolution. However, others on the list of Louisiana American Revolution soldiers have ties to Avoyelles. Therefore, I urge you to check the following book to determine if your ancestor is considered to be an American Revolution patriot: Churchill's book: "SAR Spanish Records, Spanish-English War, 1779-1783". The book is divided into 6 sections and is available at the bottom of the linked page. Book 5 of 6 contains the listing of the Militia members.

You can also check for the name of your ancestor on the actual 1777 Pointe Coupée Militia list. A copy of it appears below (thanks to Jordan Michael Grémillion): Page 1 Page 2Page 3

Most of these men were part of the Louisiana Militia which assisted General Bernardo de Galvez in taking back Baton Rouge from the British in 1779. The Spanish had lost this area to the British in 1763.

IMPORTANT NOTE: François Louis Grémillon fought in the American Revolution although it was not proven until June 2015. His name appeared on the 1770 Pointe Coupée Militia list as "francois Grémillon" but was erroneously reported as "joseph Gremillon" in the 1777 list transcribed by Charles Robert Churchill' in his 1925 book entitled "SAR Spanish Records, Spanish-English War, 1779-1783 (Men under Gen. Don Bernardo de Galvez and other records from the Archives of the Indies, Seville, Spain)". However, examination of the actual 1777 Pointe Coupée Militia list shows clearly that the name of "françois grémillon" appeared on the 1777 list and that Churchill had made an error when transcribing the list. It appears that Churchill accidentally combined the first name of soldier #30 (Joseph Lafleur) and the last name of soldier #31 (françois grémillon) when transcribing the list to arrive at the name of "joseph Gremillon". Churchill then skipped to soldier #32 (Baptiste Lacourt). (This error was discovered by Jordan Michael Grémillion in June 2015.) SOURCE: "Papeles Procedentes de Cuba", General Archives of the Indies, Spain. Legajo 161 (LSU Hill Memorial Library, Microfilm #119. The list of Pointe Coupee Militia is dated 30 June 1777 vs. Charles Robert Churchill's 1925 book entitled "SAR Spanish Records, Spanish-English War, 1779-1783 (Men under Gen. Don Bernardo de Galvez and other records from the Archives of the Indies, Seville, Spain)", pages 330-331.

NOTE: The name of our ancestor "Dominique Baldonide dit Coco, I" (actual surname is Balduini) appears on this plaque as having fought with the Marquis de Lafayette in the American Revolution. This is based on family legend and is not a proven fact. To date, a complete ship roster of Lafayette's ship, La Victoire, has not been found and partial officer lists do not mention him.

For more info on the service of Antoine Bordelon during the American Revolution, please click here .... or .... here.

The ancestors listed below appear on lists other than the Pointe Coupée Militia list.